Habits tend to form due to repetition of an action. The same applies to bad habits such as the ones you mention. The origin of habits such as alcohol, porn etc is usually some perversity or falsehood that drags us towards the abyss through the hook of instant pleasure. Sometimes it starts as a result of the company one keeps (hence the necessity of being careful about the friends one chooses). At other times it starts when people are going through stress and boredom and are looking for something to give instant gratification to stay off the clouds of depression. Little do they realise that this instant gratification will soon turn into a nightmare. Therefore, one of the strategies that is advocated for effectively cutting off these things is to stay busy with work or anything that one finds joy in. The other advantage of engaging in activities that one enjoys, especially sports, is that it releases natural endorphins which give us a natural joy and hence keep off the tendency towards sinking into depression which opens the doors to the hostile forces. Once the hostile forces enter and have a grip over the consciousness then they keep rising up from time to time and throw suggestions that can overtake the mind at any weak moment. A great vigilance, a tremendous sincerity of aspiration is then needed to come out of it. Especially the internet-based porn takes the person caught in it to an entirely dark and dangerous web of falsehood where one starts believing in all that is displayed thereby capturing the mind and giving a twist to everything in a certain way.
And yet there is hope. There always is hope if we can truly surrender like a child and sincerely aspire to get rid of such habits. It may take sometimes long if one is not sincere or it may happen suddenly once and for all and the individual is freed from its clutch provided something perverse does not call it back again. Sometimes one has to persevered with faith and endurance but eventually the victory is sure if one continues to have a complete trust and confidence in the Mother’s Grace. Meanwhile it is good to change one’s company, engage more in Satsang, stay away from atmospheres that are not helpful to the life one has chosen and keep rejecting the temptations with the persistence of one who refuses to give up. We must always remember these magical words from Savitri that always give hope even in the worst of situations:
But there is a guardian power, there are Hands that save,
Calm eyes divine regard the human scene.
Love
Alok da
About Savitri | B1C2-10 Condition of the World (p.18)